Posted on 04/04/2005 5:35:33 PM PDT by RWR8189
THE WASHINGTON POST'S COVERAGE of Pope John Paul II today featured on page 1, among other things, a news "analysis" by Hanna Rosin. It had a promising title, "His Legacy: A Papacy and Church Transformed." Yet by the fifth paragraph of her 2,000-word piece, one got the impression that Ms. Rosin doesn't think much of John Paul II's legacy:
For those who expected more from the modernization--American priests ordained in the 1960s, say, Catholic women who wanted to be priests or Latin American leaders who wanted a partner in revolution--the pope not only betrayed his promise but locked the church in place for years to come.
The idea that there was a "promise" that the Pope "betrayed" shows such an ignorance of the basic character of the Catholic Church and such a fanciful understanding of what any Pope could or would have done, that one wonders what she has in store for the late pontiff.
Indeed, here's what comes a short way later:
Another challenge came in Latin America in the mid-1980s with the rise of liberation theology. The pope considered this movement a misguided Marxist revival and did not try to hide his impatience. On tours through Nicaragua and El Salvador, he lost his temper with crowds, yelling "Silencio!"
But let's take a look at the "Silencio" event in El Salvador which Rosin describes, as detailed by George Weigel in his biography of the Pope:
Father Tucci had arrived in Managua a few days before the Pope's arrival, along with Piervincenzo Giudici, a senior Vatican Radio engineer and an expert in sound systems. Giudici had gone to check the papal Mass site and came back shocked. A second sound system--new, powerful, and independently controlled--had been installed. . . .
In the pre-visit negotiations, [Marxist Archbishop] Montezemolo had insisted that the park be divided into sections and that the sector in front of the altar be reserved for representatives of Catholic associations and movements. When these representatives arrived at the site at 4 A.M., they discovered that the central front section had already been packed with Sandinista supporters, as had virtually all the space near the altar. The people for whom the Mass was being celebrated were corralled far to the rear of the venue, and police fired automatic weapons over the heads of those who tried to get closer to the altar.
Just beside the papal altar was another platform, filled with members of the government and senior Sandinista Party members. Their behavior was less than devout. During the Mass, all nine members of the Sandinista National Directorate, including Daniel Ortega, waved their left fists and shouted "People's Power!" The confrontation became more dramatic during the Pope's sermon. The Sandinistas had secreted microphones into the sector immediately in front of the altar platform, now full of their supporters. Those microphones and the microphones on the altar platform were controlled by Sandinista engineers, using the "emergency" sound system that had been installed days before. . . . When [John Paul II] reached the point where he explained the impossibility of a "Popular Church" set over against the Church's legitimate pastors, the Sandinista mob in front of the altar became raucous and tried to drown him out. The local engineers turned down the Pope's microphone and turned up the volume on the microphones that had been placed among the agitators. As this was going on, the government officials on the tribune next to the altar platform continued to misbehave. At last, an angry John Paul had had enough, and shouted over the mob, "Silencio!" A measure of order was finally restored, although at the end of the Mass the Sandinista chief of protocol went to the engineering console and demanded that the Sandinista anthem be played as a recessional hymn. John Paul stood at the front of the platform, took his crucifix-topped crosier by its base, held it high over his head, and waved it back and forth in salute to the hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguan Catholics who had been kept penned at the back of the venue.
Weigel's account not only adds an awful lot of context to Rosin's; it shows that the truth is the opposite of what Rosin is trying to signal to her readers. (Perhaps Rosin discounts Weigel's reporting because he is, in her words, a "neoconservative.")
Or perhaps Rosin is merely building towards her rhetorical conclusion about John Paul II. As she concludes her piece:
To the Catholics who felt betrayed by how little he changed the church, his popularity was a kind of trick, the thing that most reminded them of the gap between what he appeared to be and what he was. "Because of his travels and television, he may have more prestige than any pope in history," said McBrien. "But he has very little influence on the lives of Catholic lay people. They see him and cheer for him. But there's not much substance" in his effect on them. . . .
In the end, though, he could not win over everyone, and his tenure ended for him with many disappointments.
He left his beloved Europe cold to his charms, more secular than ever. He left America more adoring than faithful. His evangelization of the Third World had only limited effect. But maybe he found spiritual fulfillment in his disappointments. The example of Jesus teaches nobility in suffering, so perhaps the pope's leadership can ultimately be measured not only by its accomplishments but also by its scars.
So it turns out the Pope's legacy was not "A Papacy and Church Transformed." His papacy was basically a failure, according to Rosin. The attempt to rewrite history and diminish John Paul II has arrived right on schedule. It would be worrisome if it weren't so pathetic.
Jonathan V. Last is online editor of The Weekly Standard and a contributor to the blog Galley Slaves.
What did you expect from a paper that along with the rest of the MSM is intent on destroying Christianity in the United States?
ping
No kidding. Is there no MSM journalist out there who seems content to let the Pope's beautiful legacy be respected? The MSM can't help but be the 'rats' they are....and they get paid for this garbage. It's really sickening.
No doubt Hanna Rosin thinks Communism is wonderful. She has never had to live under it, or perhaps she expects to be part of the Nomenklatura.
Pope John Paul II saw the effects of Nazism and Stalinism first hand in Poland. Not surprisingly, he concluded that "liberation theology"--which is nothing more than Communism with a Catholic veneer--is a bad idea. Fortunately most Latin Americans have come to agree with him. Where Communism lifts its ugly face in South America it has always been installed at the point of a gun.
Accursed left wing ideology
It sounds like Hanna Rosin wanted to be Pope. If you don't like the tenets of the Catholic Church no one is forcing you to stay in it. Maybe Ms. Rosin's efforts would be better spent trying to reform another religion like say the one the fanatical Muslims follow.
The only failure I see is the post's author of that stupid article.
They know there is non-stop watching for their non-stop coverage. Are the others even paying attention to what this says? They didn't believe it during the election; still didn't believe the Bush 2004 map. Will they understand these clear signs?
… illustrating how far he was above the intelligence of the idiots of the WaPost editorial staff.
Good God, he's not even been buried!!!
These people make me sick.
I mean how dare he!! The religious leader of the world go and act all religious or something! What is wrong with him?
Hanna Rosin can Bite Me.
Can ya tell I am just a bit sick of people who think how wonderful the Papacy would have been, how progressive, how modern, how open to the " people", if only they had been Pope. Put your name into the Conclave Hanna, what the heck maybe they'll do a MTV phone in poll for Pope this time. Stick around see if you should start picking out new colors for the Vatican. On the other hand don't.
Do you all notice that the MSM is trying very hard to separate the Pope from conservatives?
We hear over and over how John Paul II disagreed with the Iraq war and the death penalty.
Then we hear about polls and advice that the Catholic Church must liberalize its rules to allow for birth control, female priests, gay marriage, etc.
The sad truth is that liberals and the MSM understands, once again, that this country admires and respects morality and leadership.
They know that the people loved Reagan, John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher, etc. There is little love for Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, etc.
The left is trying to change the church into supporting leftist views so they can be vindicated in their beliefs.
Since that will not happen, the left knows that it is becoming a smaller and smaller minority.
You know, you think the MSM and liberal press would stop and realize what has been happening for the past two weeks.
The evening of the pope's death, ABC radio did a special on John Paul II. It was a recurrent theme: this pope took "firm stands on controversial topics...yet his popularity steadily increased". The producers and presenters of the special had absolutely no concept of what it was that had made this pope special.
They also spent the evening flogging a poll "proving" that American Catholics wanted a "more modern" pope next time around.
The media's cluelessness is comparable to that which became apparent with the death of Ronald Reagan. The popular outpouring of grief at his death seemed to stun the MSM -- they were totally unprepared for it.
Who is it, really, that's "out of touch"...
It is only in tearing down that they feel elevated. Sick bastards!!
Seems to me these people think they can lobby for queer bishops, lesbian "priests" and some kind of "sacramental abortion" performed at the very baptisimal font. Is the Catholic Church the only one that these totally disinterested - and sometimes even hostile - atheists and agnostics think they have a right to try to change to suit them?
No one (well, except my kids) is forced to be Catholic. If you don't like the rules, go somewhere else.
What do you expect from the Washington Bleep.
Since the left doesn't recognize righteousness, they simply cannot fathom that something they can't comprehend would not change at the first sign of their displeasure.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.